My Festive Fireplace

This week as I leafed through my Homes and Gardens Magazine looking for festive fireplace inspiration I was struck but how festive decoration seems to be very much trending towards Nordic, Scandinavian style. All very simple and beautiful, this is a style I adore but wanted to incorporate it to fit in with my current decorations.

Fortunately last year I had collected quite a few white, natural decorations from the festive markets, so knew these would fit perfectly into the my plans. I wanted to add in a garland as I feel it gives the fireplace its own identity at this time of year and makes it the real focal point of the room.

The fire is very much the center point of our home, we don’t generally use our lounge until the evenings, and at weekends but when we are in the lounge, the fire is roaring. Although I have to say it is a love hate relationship. Throughout our married life we had an open fire wherever possible, we just love log burners, they are so beautiful.

But let me tell you they create so much dust, and take so much effort to look after, to clean out and build every day. But on a rainy, windy freezing cold afternoon like today when you are snuggled on a snuggly fur throw with a cup of coffee and magazine in hand you know it is worth it.

There are a few things you do need to consider when decorating an open fire, as they do get so very hot. You cannot regulate the temperature, nor can you turn it off before you go to bed, so ensure where possible decorations are fire-retardant and avoid decorations hanging over the front of your mantle to reduce the risk. And although I have candles on my display, but I never light them, the twinkly lights give me the effect I want.

But me the fire is part of family life, somewhere we all snuggle around in the winter’s evenings, the place we sit to open our Christmas presents, and when you come home after being away it welcomes you with open arms. Some days I look at it and think hmm it’s a bit battered, well used, but do you know what? Those marks are memories of each family Christmas, winter, and memories of being snowed in. And when the water supply is cut off for hours on end which happens out here in the sticks, it is our faithful friend that keeps us warm.

20 Comments

Oh Sarah this looks SO comfy I want to come and lie in front of it and drink hot chocolate! Really love this. What a stunning fireplace. I miss our open fire so much – Hubby and I loved the one in our old house. You have decorated it beautifully and what a cosy home for Christmas time!! 🙂 Jess xx

So gorgeous!! I think me, you and Jess must have some kind of telepathic connection to each other as we’ve basically just all published the same post. Warmth, comfort and lovely decorations must be on our minds xx

Oh I so miss having a fire and a fire p,ace, especially at Christmas. We only really used the one in our old house at Christmas, but it made the season so snuggly. Yours looks beautiful and it looks like the heart of your home xx

I love our wood burner at Christmas (aside from cleaning it out!). We have an inglenook, so no mantelpiece, so when it comes to decorating it at Christmas I generally string some lights around the edge of the wood plinth and take a few holly cuttings from the garden to dot between the lights. It does look so cosy and inviting! Xxx #HomeEtc

Aaah I LOVE fireplaces! We have a log burner — similar to yours — in our dining room and an open fire in the snug. When we lived in London we never lit a fire because of the smoke-free policy and I remember when we first moved to Marlow getting really excited about lighting the fire!! The smell of the entire town in the winter was gorgeous — wood smoke EVERYWHERE!!! Some people hate it but I’m obsessed with the smell of it! Love your cosy sitting room — looks gorgeous 🙂 Thanks for linking up pet #HomeEtc